"Evergreens" keep most of their leaves during the winter. They have special leaves, resistant to cold and moisture loss. Some, like pine and fir trees, have long thin needles. Others, like holly, have broad leaves with tough, waxy surfaces. On very cold, dry days, these leaves sometimes curl up to reduce their exposed surface. Evergreens may continue to photosynthesize during the winter as long as they get enough water, but the reactions occur more slowly at colder temperatures.
During summer days, leaves make more glucose than the plant needs for energy and growth. The excess is turned into starch and stored until needed. As the daylight gets shorter in the autumn, plants begin to shut down their food production.
Many changes occur in the leaves of deciduous trees before they finally fall from the branch. The leaf has actually been preparing for autumn since it started to grow in the spring. At the base of each leaf is a special layer of cells called the "abscission" or separation layer. All summer, small tubes which pass through this layer carry water into the leaf, and food back to the tree. In the fall, the cells of the abscission layer begin to swell and form a cork-like material, reducing and finally cutting off flow between leaf and tree. Glucose and waste products are trapped in the leaf. Without fresh water to renew it, chlorophyll begins to disappear.
The bright red and purple colors come from anthocyanin (an-thuh-'si-uh-nuhn) pigments. These are potent antioxidents common in many plants; for example, beets, red apples, purple grapes (and red wine), and flowers like violets and hyacinths. In some leaves, like maple leaves, these pigments are formed in the autumn from trapped glucose. Why would a plant use energy to make these red pigments, when the leaves will soon fall off? Some scientists think that the anthocyanins help the trees keep their leaves a bit longer. The pigments protect the leaves from the sun, and lower their freezing point, giving some frost protection. The leaves remain on the tree longer, and more of the sugars, nitrogen and other valuable substances can be removed before the leaves fall. Another possible reason has been proposed: when the leaves decay, the anthocyanins seep into the ground and prevent other plant species from growing in the spring.
